CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two women filed a federal lawsuit that claims a Euclid police officer assaulted them and violated their rights when one of them was arrested in March 2017.

Shanell Gist and Melissa Highsmith said officer Dan Ferritto and other officers barged into Gist's apartment on East 233rd Street and accused them of running away after they were outside looking at Highsmith's new car.

The lawsuit does not say why officers were there, though Ferritto's police report says officers received a complaint at the about two women drinking alcohol, arguing and using racial slurs in the apartment complex's parking lot.

After Highsmith demanded to know why the officers were in the apartment, Ferritto grabbed her by her collar, "body-slamming her on the concrete floor of Plaintiff Gist's apartment entrance," the lawsuit says. Highsmith's head smashed on the ground and the impact shattered a bottle of champagne she was holding, according to the suit.

Highsmith did not resist arrest, according to the suit. Feritto then noticed Gist's infant daughter in the living room, as well as a bottle of Hennessey. He called Children's Services over Gist's pleas to let her grandmother to take the child, but Ferritto did not oblige, the lawsuit says.

Gist was ticketed for child endangerment. Highsmith was arrested and charged with obstructing official business, resisting arrest and an open container violation.

The lawsuit says Ferritto and other officers were overheard talking about their body cameras and "conspiring to give a false, misleading, and incomplete version of the events to their superiors, prosecutors, and the public, in order to cover up their own misconduct." They agreed that none of their body cameras had been on, according to the suit.

When Ferritto brought Highsmith to jail, he told staff there to "have fun with this one, she's a drunk b---h," the lawsuit states.

Charges against both women were later dropped.

Claims in the lawsuit include unconstitutional search and seizure and malicious prosecution. It also says Euclid police has a pattern and practice of violating people's civil rights.

The women are asking for an unspecified amount in damages.

Police Lt. Mitch Houser said the department will not comment on pending litigation.

Ferritto's report says officers saw Gist pull her car into the apartment complex's parking lot. It says Highsmith got out of the car with a half-full champagne bottle.

The officer wrote that he yelled at the pair to stop but they did not follow his order. He used a knife to forcefully open the apartment building's door and, when he arrived at Gist's door, Ferritto "used my foot to force open the door," he wrote.

The officer did this "due to being in hot pursuit of Shanell and Melissa," he wrote. Ferritto told Highsmith she was under arrest, and Highsmith took a step back, the report states.

Ferritto grabbed Highsmith's shirt but she tried to pull away. He then "pulled Melissa by her shirt out of the apartment unit and on to the ground," the report states. Highsmith appeared very drunk and she never requested medical attention, the officer wrote, adding that she didn't appear to be injured.

The officer also said he called the Cuyahoga County Child Abuse Hotline after the incident regarding Gist's daughter.

Euclid police has faced public scrutiny in the past year, in large part because of a controversial video of a traffic stop in which patrolman Michael Amiott was seen hitting motorist Richard Hubbard III in August.